


too late

by DragonsAndCryptids



Series: FT one-shots [7]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, F/F, Gen, Heavy Angst, Multi, Other, Post-Canon, Tragedy, Unhappy Ending, as with most of my gray and natsu stuff, basically gray's magic turns him into a demon, could be interpreted romantic or platonic, you pick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonsAndCryptids/pseuds/DragonsAndCryptids
Summary: A slayer's magic is unpredictable, unstable, and it's only a matter of time before it takes the user over. No one caught the signs, no one noticed, until it was far too late.
Relationships: Cana Alberona/Lucy Heartfilia, Erza Scarlet/Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel & Gray Fullbuster
Series: FT one-shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618369
Kudos: 22





	too late

**Author's Note:**

> once again i'm inflicting you with angsty ideas discussed in the chat

It was about five years after the infamous Alvarez War when they began to notice. In all honesty, it had probably been going on since the war, possibly even before, but had been so subtle… that no one realized what was going on. Natsu often wondered  _ how _ they hadn’t noticed, how every single sign was missed until it was too late… 

_ Too late. _

He stared down at the blood coating his hands. 

* * *

Erza dragged the unconscious thief over to the others by her foot. The requip mage hadn’t really meant to knock her out, but hey, sometimes she got carried away in a fight. Didn’t everyone? But at least she could take her time tying the other woman up, before dragging her and her crew to the authorities of this little town, and they could get their reward. “Gray?” she asked as she dropped the woman, ignoring the glares of the other two thieves she had already tied up. “You finished with that other one—?” She turned around, and—  _ “Gray!”  _

Black marking spread across his skin, greedily eating him up. A small smile tugged at his lips, but it was wrong,  _ off, _ and it sent shivers down Erza’s spine. He dug his heel down between the thief's shoulder blades. A blade of ice dangling from his fingers, dangerously close to the struggling woman’s neck. 

“Gray!” Erza rushed forward and yanked him back. “What the hell are you  _ doing!? _ We’re not meant to kill them! Why would you even  _ use _ your demon slayer magic for something like this?” 

He shook his head, the markings and smile fading away. “Sorry… guess I got a little carried away.” 

“You don’t  _ sound _ sorry,” Erza snapped. 

“Oh fuck off.” He shrugged her hand off his shoulder. “It’s just a low-life thief. You can deal with her, if you’re gonna be so damn twitchy about it.” 

“Gray…” Erza’s eyebrows pinched in concern, and she ran through important dates. Were any anniversaries coming up? His parents’ deaths? Ur? Or maybe Tartaros…? No, nothing she could think of. “Are you feeling okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he said with a sigh, the last of that strange persona she’d seen vanishing. “Let’s just finish this job, alright? I wanna get home.” 

“If you’re sure…” 

* * *

“Gray!” Chelia dashed forward and wrapped the ice mage in a bone crushing hug. “That’s from Lyon! Well, he didn’t tell me to give you a hug, he told me to tell you hi, but figured I’d give you a hug.” 

Wendy was sure the lovestruck smile on her face was probably a bit much, but she couldn’t help it. Even years later, every time her girlfriend came to visit from Lamia Scale, she felt like the same nervous, blushing little kid that had first asked her out. 

Chelia generally came to visit at least a month, often time more, so everyone in Fairy Tail had gotten very used to her and how she acted. She was practically an honorary member, so it was very strange for Gray to shove her away. 

“Don’t touch me.” 

Chelia's easy smile began to fade. “Huh?” 

“I  _ said—” _ He pushed her further back. “Don’t touch me.” 

“But…” 

Wendy frowned, and walked over to take Chelia’s hand as Gray slunk away to go sit at the bar. That had been… weird. Gray was very used to Chelia’s greetings (always supposedly coming from Lyon), and he’d never once reacted like that. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Chelia asked. “I don’t think I upset him the last time I was here…” 

Wendy shook her head and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. “Nah, it’s okay. He’s probably just in a bad mood or something. Now come on! There’s this lovely new cafe I want to take you to.” 

* * *

“Are Erza and Laxus fighting over being the guildmaster again?” Lucy complained. “Can we just vote? Would that shut them up?” 

“Nah, they’d probably dispute whoever ended up winning,” Cana said. “Let’s let them finish arguing about it.” 

“They’ve been arguing about it for a month now!” she said. “By this rate, the Master isn’t actually gonna be able to retire, he’s gonna die waiting on them to make up their minds.” 

Cana laughed. “Well, he’s been trying to retire for what, almost a decade now? It’d be pretty on brand if that happened.” 

Lucy rolled her eyes. Her wife really could be terrible at times. “I still think it should go to Laxus… As someone who has worked under Erza’s leadership quite often… "Yeah, I think it should go to Laxus.” 

“Well don’t let him hear you saying that,” Cana said. “Bastard’ll zap you. Pretty sure he almost divorced Freed when he told him he should be the Master.” 

Lucy sighed and shook her head. While she understood that being the guildmaster could be a difficult job, personally… she thought it would be an honor to be considered for it. Sure, neither Laxus nor Erza wanted the position, but either one would admittedly be very good at the job, and it made sense for one of them to be the one to succeed Makarov. “What do you think, Gray? Who do you think it’ll end up being?”

Gray turned to look at her, a vaguely irritated expression on his face. “Why the hell should I care about something like that?” 

“Well…” Lucy tapped her fingers on the table. “They are our friends, you know.” She smiled at him and nudged his shoulder. “You’ve been really gloomy lately. Is everything going okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he grumbled. “I just don’t understand why everyone’s so focused on all this stupid stuff. It’s not like it really matters anyways.” 

“Aw, come on… That’s not like you,” Lucy said. She could admit, it’d been a little while since she’d spent any real time with Gray. Their team was taking a bit of a break. Well… more like a small series of breaks, that had all accumulated to be about a year. First there had been Mirajane and Erza’s wedding and then their honeymoon, and then the whole debacle of the council trying to name Erza a Saint Wizard, despite her not wanting the title at all, then Brandish had invited Lucy to her wedding to Dimaria, and she’d traveled all the way to Alvarez for it, and now there was this mess with Erza possibly being the next guildmaster. So yeah… their team had only been able to take a few very small, short jobs together as of late. 

It made her sad, at times. She did miss the days when they were younger and had no other responsibilities besides trying to make enough for rent, but… things changed, and that was perfectly okay. 

That being said… She  _ had _ noticed that Gray hadn’t really been acting like himself lately. Maybe she should ask Natsu about it… He’d know, wouldn’t he? 

“If all you’re going to do is bother me, I’ll go drink with someone else,” Gray said. 

“Alright, alright.” Lucy raised her hands in surrender. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, we won’t. I was just wondering.” 

* * *

“Erza, I need to talk to you,” Natsu said. 

“Hm?” Erza glanced up from her plate of food as Natsu sat in the seat across from her. “You’re here early.” Normally Natsu didn’t come to the guildhall until around noon. He’d developed an unfortunate habit of sleeping in rather late, now that Erza was no longer demanding he be here early for jobs lately. 

“Yeah, well… like I said I need to talk to you.” 

She set her fork down, frowning as she realized how serious he looked. While Natsu had finally matured some, it was still strange to see him so… reserved, quiet. “What about?” 

“Have you… noticed anything strange about Gray lately?” he asked, beginning to fidget with the end of his scarf. 

“Actually now that you mention it…” She crossed her arms and leaned back. “He’s been more… violent with the way that he fights on the last few jobs we’ve gone on.” 

“Yeah… I noticed that too…” he said. “I’d hoped I was imagining things, but…” 

“How’s he been at home?” she asked. She’d also noticed that he’d been acting… a bit more snappish than usual with most people, for the past few months, actually. It seemed to be getting worse, but Natsu had never said anything about it, so she’d figured it probably wasn’t that big of a deal. 

Until now, of course. 

“I mean…” Natsu sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “He’s basically fine, but he gets pissed if I ask him if everything’s okay. And he doesn’t like it when I touch him, or sit too close, or anything like that.” 

“Well, you know he’s never exactly been very touchy,” she pointed out. 

“I know that!” he exclaimed, before staring down at the table and getting quiet again. “It’s just… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s different. He feels  _ different.” _

“I know you’re worried.” Erza could admit she was beginning to get worried now too. “But if he doesn't want to talk about it, we can’t make him. I’m sure that whatever happened will blow over soon, and he’ll get back to normal.” 

“But—” 

Erza leaned across the table to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine, and if this keeps up, we can push harder, but for now, I think we should just let him be.” 

“Okay…” 

* * *

“Gray…?” 

“What?” he asked, forcing his eyes open. 

“You’d tell me if something was really wrong, wouldn’t you?” Natsu asked. 

Gray groaned and sat up, wincing as the dragon slayer turned on a light. Natsu swore that for a split second his eyes hadn’t looked… right. But he brushed it off as a trick of the light, a strange reflection, his imagination, something like that. 

“You really wanna do this again?” Gray asked. “I was asleep.” 

“You’ve been asleep all day,” Natsu said. 

“If I knew you’d be this damn clingy, I wouldn’t have moved in with you, pyro,” he muttered. 

Natsu tensed, and considered leaving him alone right then. The last thing he wanted to do was irritate Gray to the point that he moved out. He’d gotten used to having him here the past year. Hell, he’d go so far as to say that he  _ liked _ it. Honestly, Natsu wasn’t completely sure  _ why _ they originally moved in together. Maybe because Gray wanted another way to get Juvia off his back, maybe because all their other friends were getting married and moving in together. Natsu didn’t really know or care, he’d just gone with it when Gray decided he wanted to move in with him one day. 

People speculated on the nature of their relationship. Of course they did. Natsu didn’t really care what they said, and he didn’t think Gray did either. They had better things to do than worry about rumors, or actually trying to figure out  _ what _ exactly they were to each other. 

“Are you just gonna stand there, idiot?” Gray asked, his normal smile creeping onto his face. “You that determined to be annoying?” 

Natsu let out a shaky breath. “No, nah, sorry I woke you up.” Then he shivered. “But it’s fucking freezing in here. You better not make the rest of the house feel like this!” 

“It’s always cold in here,” Gray said with an eye roll. 

“Not like this!” Natsu protested. 

“Tch. Whatever.” Gray laid back down in his bed and pulled the blankets over his head. “Close the damn door.” 

Despite how much he didn’t want to, Natsu listened. 

* * *

“Hey! Ice freak! Don’t fuckin’ stare at my kid like that!” 

Gray blinked, tearing his gaze away from Gajeel’s daughter as she tottered her way across the guildhall. “The hell is your problem, man?” 

Gajeel bared his teeth, marched over to scoop his daughter up, and took her to the other side of the guildhall, the toddler babbling incoherently the whole time. 

Natsu frowned, and began to gnaw at his lip. 

“Gods, don’t know what the hell I did,” Gray said. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. 

“Oh, you know how dragon slayers get sometimes,” Natsu said, shoving down the worry blooming in his chest. “Overprotective bastards.” 

“I was just lookin’ at her,” he said, his voice low. “She’s so small, so… breakable.” 

“Breakable…?” Natsu couldn’t help but repeat. He was  _ really _ hoping Gajeel was just being ridiculous, it wasn’t unheard of when it came to his kids. It’d taken Levy forever to convince him to even let other people babysit them. But the way Gray had said that… 

It had kicked Natsu’s own protective instincts into overdrive. 

“Yeah,” Gray said. “Just like everything is.” 

“Gray, I want us to go talk to Porlyusica,” Natsu said suddenly, unable to ignore whatever the hell this was any longer. 

“What the hell?” Gray turned to stare at him, the glassy look in his eyes fading.  _ “Why?” _

“I-I just…” Natsu had no idea how he was supposed to explain this without Gray getting mad at him. “Have you really not noticed that something hasn’t been right with you recently?” 

Gray glared at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing, before he shot to his feet and shoved past Natsu. “Fuck you, nothing’s fucking wrong with me!” 

“Gray!” Natsu exclaimed, immediately chasing after him, ignoring the questioning looks from everyone watching and listening. “I didn’t mean— I’m just worried!” 

“Well I didn’t  _ fucking _ ask you to be!” he snapped over his shoulder. Black markings began to appear on his skin, shifting and squirming. “Just leave me alone!” 

Natsu stumbled to a stop, and despite how much he wanted to chase after his friend, he knew he’d probably only make it worse right now. So as much as he hated it, he let him go. 

* * *

“Erza, dear… how has Gray been lately?” Mirajane asked. 

“Huh?” Erza leaned out of the shower, watching as her wife did her makeup for the day. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, I noticed he’s not been coming to the guild as often, and Natsu got a little tipsy the other night and kept talking about how worried he was about him, and the past couple days, I…” She took a deep breath. “My magic has been reaching out to him. Like… like it might want to take him over.” 

_ “What!?” _ Erza demanded, jerking the shower curtain all the way back, sending water droplets flying across the bathroom. “Mira, what does that  _ mean?” _

Mirajane sighed and set her tube of eyeliner down. “That’s the thing… I don’t know. This has never happened to me before, you know… with a human. The only thing I could think of would maybe be his demon slayer magic? Has he been using it a lot more lately, or something?” 

“Not that I’ve noticed…” Erza said, grabbing for the towel despite still having soap in her hair. “Although, the markings have begun to show up when he gets irritated or anything like that.” 

“Hm…” Mirajane’s frown deepened. “Well, maybe talk to him about it.” 

“I’ll try,” Erza said with a grimace. “He’s not exactly been very open to conversation lately. But I’ll force it out of him after the job we’re leaving on today, I’m not letting him worm his way out of it anymore.” 

“That’s probably a good thing,” Mirajane agreed. “But babe, maybe you should finish washing your hair, you’re dripping suds all over the floor.” 

* * *

It would have been a nice little job. Erza had picked it out today because she actually had the time to go on a job, now that Laxus had been officially saddled with the job of guildmaster. Unfortunately, their whole team hadn’t been able to come. Wendy was with Chelia for her birthday, and it was Lucy and Cana’s anniversary, so the blonde hadn’t come either. Juvia had come instead, since Erza didn’t want it to just be the three of them, and no one else had really been free, but she didn’t want to put off going. 

The fight against the dark guild they’d been hired to take care of was nowhere near the hardest fight they’d ever had. Not even close. But it had been tough enough that it was exhilarating, which wasn’t something they got very often anymore, unless it was a spar against a fellow guildmate. 

But that being said, it still wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle. 

“I’ve got the guildmaster!” Erza shouted from across the clearing. “He’s unconscious, so let’s finish rounding up the rest of them, and then we can—” 

A sickening crunch had Natsu tensing up and turning around. He’d been in enough battles to know what the sound of breaking bones was. 

A ragged screech echoed through the forest as Gray twisted a dark wizard’s arm, so violently the bone snapped and jutted out from the skin. 

“Gray!” Natsu shouted. 

The markings had spread further than Natsu had ever seen, even back when Gray had tried to kill  _ him. _ His eyes flared bright purple, the vibrant color glowing in the darkness. He cackled as blood spurted out from the wound, splattering against his face. His tongue darted out to lick it away from his lips. 

“Gr-Gray…” Natsu stammered, taking a slow step towards him. “Let go of that person. Now. They’re down, you don’t need to—” 

Gray let go of the person’s arm, and Natsu let out a breath of relief, surprised that he had listened to him so easily. 

But Gray grabbed the dark wizard before she could collapse, his hands gripping her head. 

_ “No!” _ Natsu yelped, leaping towards him, but he was nowhere near quick enough. 

The snap of her neck breaking was even louder than the bones of her arm shattering. She dropped like a stone, dead before her body even hit the ground, and the look in Gray’s eyes only grew more feral. 

Natsu stumbled to a halt. “No…” He shook his head, and acid bubbled up his throat. “No, no, no, no…” 

There had been no reason to kill her. None at all. And while Natsu knew that killing was necessary sometimes (they all knew that), this was different. Gray had… he… 

Gray kicked at the fallen dark mage’s body, howling with laughter as more bones cracked and more blood splattered. The markings spread, and spread, eating up half his face. 

“Gray! Stop!” Erza commanded, though her voice shook. “Stop this now!” She abandoned the guildmaster, and sprinted across the clearing. 

Natsu still couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t process what he was seeing, what was going on around him. 

“Gray! She’s dead! Stop!” Juvia shouted, and she was the first one to actually reach him. 

_ Dragon slayers became dragons. _

Juvia grabbed Gray’s arm. 

_ Gray is a demon slayer. _

An ice blade manifested in Gray’s hand. 

_ He hasn’t been acting like himself.  _

The blade dug into Juvia’s chest. 

_ Gray turned into a… into a…  _

Natsu didn’t know who was screaming. Maybe it was Juvia. Maybe it was Erza. Hell, maybe it was Natsu. He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell through the ringing in his ears. 

Gray’s features twisted as he dug the blade in deeper, sneering as Juvia grappled weakly with the blade, desperately trying to get it out of her chest. 

But it was too late. Her body went limp, too much blood staining her dress red. 

Natsu was pretty sure if any of them had been unlucky enough to get to him first, they’d be in the same situation. 

Part of him wished he’d just moved, just gotten there first. If only so he didn’t have to watch this unfold. And then Juvia wouldn’t be… 

Juvia’s body slid off the blade, thudding onto the ground, right next to the first corpse. 

Natsu was moving before he even realized it, years of fighting experience kicking in, telling him that there was an enemy right in front of him, that it wasn’t safe to stand still. 

Gray didn’t fight back as Natsu tackled him, pinning him down against the ground, digging his fingers into his shoulders. 

“Why!?” Natsu choked. “Why didn’t you tell me!?” 

Gray didn’t answer. He just stared up at him, black sclera swallowing up the white. 

“We could have helped you!” he cried. If they’d known, they could have stopped it. Could have… could have… 

Gray bared too sharp teeth, his newfound fangs glinting in the moonlight. 

A demon’s smile, if ever Natsu had seen one. 

“Don’t do this to me!” he begged. He hadn’t escaped his fate as E.N.D. just for Gray to… for his best friend to… “Snap out of it, Gray! Wake up!” 

_ Please… I can’t lose you…  _

Gray’s freezing, clawed fingers wrapped around Natsu’s wrists, surprisingly gentle. “What’s that look for, Natsu? I’ve told you I’m fine.” 

Natsu screamed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did Gray kill Natsu? Did Natsu kill Gray? idk, i'm letting you pick


End file.
